AWS ANS-C01 – The NEW AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty Exam

The new AWS ANS-C01 exam for the AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty certification was released in July 2022.

So how does the AWS ANS-C01 compare to the previous ANS-C00 exam? I recently took the new exam for the AWS ANS-C01 and in this article, I’ll share my feedback on this experience.

Now you may be wondering why AWS change their exam codes. Periodically, AWS performs an update to the exam to cover the latest services and features. They also revise the exam when the outline of the exam changes to optimize the content based on feedback and improvements.

You can access the new exam guide for the AWS ANS-C01 Advanced Networking Specialty exam to view the new exam outline, domains, and topics. So what’s the same, and what’s different?

What is the AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty?

The AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty certification is a highly sought-after certification that demonstrates that you have deep expertise in networking in the AWS Cloud and between on-premises data centers and the cloud.

You will need skills in advanced networking architectures, as well as IP VPN, MPLS, VPLS, SD-WAN, CIDR and sub-netting with IPv4 and IPv6, and how to design and troubleshoot complex routing architectures using static and dynamic (BGP) networking protocols.

What’s the same?

In the exam guide for the ANS-C01 the number of questions (65) and passing score (75%) are the same. The time allocation is the same as well (170 minutes). The price of the exam also stays the same at $300 USD.

The exam can be taken from a testing center or online and there are no exam labs or hands-on exercises to complete. The exam is purely multiple choice and multiple response questions.

What’s different?

The ANS-C01 exam guide has 4 domains of knowledge compared to 6 domains for the ANS-C00.

In the following table I have mapped the domains of the ANS-C00 to the ANS-C01:

ANS-C00 Domains	ANS-C01 Domains
Domain 1: Design and implement hybrid IT network architectures at scale	Domain 1: Network Design
Domain 2: Design and implement AWS networks	Domain 1: Network Design
Domain 3: Automate AWS tasks	Domain 2: Network Implementation
Domain 4: Configure network integration with application services	Domain 2: Network Implementation
Domain 5: Design and implement for security and compliance	Domain 4:  Network Security, Compliance, and Governance
Domain 6: Manage, optimize, and troubleshoot the network	Domain 3: Network Management and Operation

What do I need to learn?

The following list outlines some of the knowledge areas you’ll need to know in more detail for the new AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty exam:

•AWS Outposts

•Local Zones

•Accelerated S2S VPN

•Provider Independent IPs (PI) / BYOIP

•Route 53 Resolver  – more coverage and DNSSEC

•AWS Network Firewall and DNS Firewall

•Centralized / shared services VPCs – lots more scenarios

•IGMP multicast domains

•Traffic mirroring

•IPv6 – more coverage

•Gateway Load Balancer

•SD-WAN scenarios with transit gateway, VXLAN, GRE with BGP, VRF, ECMP

•Amazon EKS + Kubernetes Autoscaler, Horizontal Pod Autoscaler

•Self-signed certificates with ACM

•AWS Organizations

Is the ANS-C01 harder than the ANS-C00?

My experience of the new exam is that it is significantly more difficult than the ANS-C00. The new ANS-C01 exam covers a broader set of networking technologies and requires strong knowledge of hybrid networking configurations. The new questions were also more complex and lengthy.

How can I best prepare for the ANS-C01 exam?

Our brand new training courses for the AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty certification were created after the release of the exam guide for the ANS-C01. This means we were able to design the courses from scratch to ensure that students for the ANS-C01 have everything they need to pass their exam.

Within the video course we provide guidance on how to best prepare for your exam. Our practice test course has also been updated with brand new questions to cover the topic in the ANS-C01 exam guide.

We also provide an exam-specific cheat sheet PDF to complement the videos, guided hands-on exercises, and practice questions. With our training courses, you have everything you need to pass your AWS ANS-C01 exam!

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